Derry looks to change plot of Southmoreland’s success story

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 | 5:50 PM

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Offseason turmoil sure has not derailed the Southmoreland football team.

The Scotties went through a coaching change and the transfer of starting quarterback Anthony Smith, but now they find themselves the talk of Westmoreland County and the WPIAL.

Southmoreland (5-0) is ranked fifth in Class 3A heading into Friday’s Interstate Conference clash at Derry (3-2).

Dustin Shoaf, the youngest head coach in the WPIAL at 24, replaced Tim Bukowski, who resigned. The Yough grad has the Scotties playing well and in a good spot heading into the second half of the season. Junior Dawson Wolfe is managing the quarterback position.

Now the Scotties are getting ready to open conference play on the road, and Shoaf expects another challenge.

After three relatively easy wins in nonconference play, the Scotties met two tough challenges: at Blackhawk on Sept. 12 and Ringgold at home on Sept. 19.

They fell behind 14-0 at Blackhawk and rallied for a 24-17 victory and then used a big second half to defeat Ringgold, 28-7.

“It is hard to win football games,” Shoaf said. “We were setting things up for future games.

“They have won games here in previous years. We are doing a good job of focusing on what we can do.”

Wolfe has completed 43 of 73 passes for 559 yards and eight touchdowns. Makel Darnell is his main target with 15 catches for 177 yards.

The running game is being handled by Averyon Darnell (287 yards), Jackson Mickens (231 yards) and Wolfe (222 yards). Mickens has eight touchdowns and Wolfe seven.

Now they face Derry, which features a strong offensive line and a powerful running back in Max Doherty, who rushed for 222 yards and scored four touchdowns against Indiana.

He has 405 yards and five touchdowns for the season.

Quarterback Anthony Sacco has completed 27 of 62 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns, and wide receiver Noah Stough has nine catches for 217 yards and three touchdowns.

“We must approach this game with a 0-0 mentality,” Shoaf said. “Every week is a test. Every week is a challenge.”

Derry coach Mike Arone has seen his team improve since he took over in 2022.

He said this is a pivotal point of the season for his team. The Trojans were 3-2 last year heading into Week 5 and then dropped their final five games.

Derry could have been 4-1 heading into the conference opener, but it did not finish at Indiana.

“We have been having trouble putting teams away,” Arone said. “We were able to escape Deer Lakes and Burrell with wins but not Indiana.

“Southmoreland is doing a good job. It has good running backs, the quarterback is a better runner than Smith and it is tough to find a weakness.”

Arone said he is counting on his linemen to control the line of scrimmage and give Doherty room to run.

“Southmoreland is riding high,” Arone said. “Winning breeds winning, and that is what they have been doing there the past few seasons.”

Southmoreland youth teams have also been successful the past few seasons, and Shoaf is happy there are more than 100 kids playing among three teams.

“We are thinking about the present, but it is nice to see that many kids playing,” Shoaf said. “Derry is a team improving week to week. Not much has changed in Derry football. They are going to give you 100% every week.”

Shoaf said the wins against Blackhawk and Ringgold were huge for the program and gave the team a confidence boost.

“We faced adversity at Blackhawk, down 14-0,” Shoaf said. “We told them there was a lot of football to play, and they responded.

“We did a lot of good things that night. Against Ringgold, we showed a lot of growth. We are going to continue to put our names on the map.”

Arone said his team has played a lot better this season, but Southmoreland is the first of many challenges the next five weeks.

“I like where we are at,” Arone said. “We must find a way to finish better.”

He hopes that starts Friday.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Derry Area, Southmoreland